We left the hotel bright and early with a local guide (a Scottish lass named Andi) for a quick bus ride through the city where she pointed out local attractions and shared humorous antidotes about Scottish life. She kept us laughing the entire time we were together. Unfortunately, it was raining a bit while we were on the bus and my attempt to take pictures through the bus window resulted in some fabulous shots….of raindrops! 

The local tour then proceeded to the Edinburgh Castle, located at the top end of the “Royal Mile”. We got there just as the castle opened (by plan) as our guides wanted to beat the inevitable crowds that would show up as the day progressed. This is an unadvertised advantage of being with an escorted tour group; they skip the lines and know when to go/not go to popular attractions.

We had the use of personalized listening devices so it was easy to hear the tour guide without trying to crowd around them.  This is a marvelous advance to touring. Andi showed and educated us with the history of the castle and pointed out the important areas in it. The castle was initially built in the 12th century. It is located on the top of an extinct volcano 430 feet above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs. There is only one way up and it is very easy to see why it was built where it is. The castle is actually a series of buildings  and parts are actively used for military personnel. After the introductory tour we were left to explore the area on our own. The highlights are Scotland’s Crown Jewels (significantly fewer than England), the views of the surrounding area (you build your castle on the highest point so you can see who is coming), and the large dining hall with a display of amour and weapons from medieval times.

There was an option of staying in the castle area and perhaps walking (downhill) the Royal Mile (which is really 1.2 miles long but that is not as romantic a title) or taking a tour of the Royal yacht, the HMY Britannia.  We all opted to do that.  The 412 ft yacht had a crew of 21 officers and 250 crew. It was built in 1954 and finally retired in 1997 after sailing some million miles around the globe.

Rather than eating lunch at the adjacent shopping mall before taking the yacht tour we chose to eat onboard at the Britannia tea room, which is situated in an outdoor area (now enclosed) on the deck where the Royal family used to sun and play games. Some of us even drank the beer that the royals enjoyed while on board. The highlight was having napkins (paper unfortunately) embossed with the Royal seal, which none of us wanted to use. The server gladly gave us a few to take as souvenirs.

We followed most of the self guided tour of the ship, focusing our attention on the sleeping, living and entertaining areas used by the Royal family. There are still personal artifacts of the family on display throughout the ship, including some lovely family pictures of the children when they were young. Because this represents modern, ongoing history it meant more to me, and it further supports my premise that it is good to be king (or queen in this case). I asked if there was a new ship in the offing and the answer was no, not at the current time- probably too costly to justify, especially with the current brouhaha over BREXIT.

We returned to the hotel in late afternoon and I chose to walk the several blocks to take a picture of the Holyrood Palace, which is still used by the Queen when she visits Edinburgh. Once there I decided to pay the admission fee and tour the palace with the self guided audio guide they provide. This palace has acted as the home of all the kings and queens of the Scots since the 16th century. Queen Elizabeth spends at least one week here every summer, performing important business. Mary, Queen of Scots resided here from 1651-1657. The walking tour included visits to the rooms occupied by Mary, Queen of Scots and the state rooms used by Queen Elizabeth for state and official functions. No pictures were allowed inside the palace so you will have to seek other sources to see what I saw.

Visitors are allowed to take pictures outside and an amazing part of the palace complex is the adjacent ruins of the Augustinian Holyrood Abbey, built in 1128 and used until the 17th century. All that remains are some of the walls and columns. It makes a dramatic addition to the palace complex.

Rather than finding a restaurant on our own, we chose to do the optional dinner offering that evening at a local restaurant called “Iris”, a place our tour director had visited with a friend. It was a small venue located on a small side street that we had to walk to because the bus could not traverse the street. It turned out to be an excellent place to have dinner; we were all pleased with the meal.

Our visit to Edinburgh was way too short. There are still many things to see and do here, but tomorrow we must move on to our next destination- the Scottish Highlands.